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… to the fl oor plans … The arrival sequence continues inside the house, determining the layout of the first floor and then the second while also taking into account the house’s orientation. Utility spaces are located on the darker north side, which is separated from the south-facing living and dining spaces (photos facing page) by the hall and the stairway. Although located on the main floor, the master bedroom is buffered from public spaces by the home office, the laundry room, and the walk-in closet. Up Dooryard Laundry Mudroom Entry Kitchen Up Master bedroom Living Office Entry Screened porch 04 8 16 ft. First floor Farmer’s porch Second floor Dining Dn Bedroom Bedroom Sitting area their site. In choosing that site, 19th-century builders thought first about the sun, then about the wind, and then about proper drainage. Their time and effort were not put into making a palace, but a house that worked with the land. In those days, building on a slope was favored because it meant less digging, which was done by hand. We took a similar approach, tucking the house into the land in a traditional manner. Building this way also allows runoff to drain away from the foundation—in this case, aided by a perimeter-drain system we installed uphill from the house. Like those old farmers, our goal was a house of modest scale. The modern-day challenge, however, is that once you attach a garage, you end up with a huge appendage that represents almost a third of your footprint. The answer is to move the two apart. In Maine, a sheltered outdoor space between the house and garage or barn where you do your work is referred to as a dooryard. There is a tradition in Maine of dooryard visits, in which neighbors pull up to the house and roll down the window to chat with whoever is working there. Following this arrival sequence—from the car, to the mudroom, to the service spaces, to living and dining areas, and finally, to more private spaces—enables the floor plan to evolve naturally. To make the most of 2500 sq. ft., we turned to an open plan in which public spaces were shared. I always begin by laying out the first floor, which tells me where the stair wants to be, which in turn brings me to the 46 FINE HOMEBUILDING second floor. I want the second-floor bedrooms to be facing the sun, so they fall into place next. I also like the bedrooms to have windows on two walls for ample light and cross ventilation. A form unfolds With the interior spaces in place, the form of the house begins to reveal itself. It is shaped by the rooms inside and by the character of the area. Steve and Deb’s home site is located just outside the village of Freeport. The area is full of smaller-scale houses built from the 1780s to 1900, offering a traditional frame of reference. Because this house was situated outside the village, I believed that a farmhouse form would be most appropriate. We were drawn to the Cape style, with a raised dormer facing the sun and an unbroken roof slanted against the north winds. To me, this represented a type of small and simple house with the economical patterns we wanted. I used pitches of 11-in-12 on the main roof and a gentler 5-in-12 on the roofs of the porch, the breezeway, and the dormer. The pitch of the master wing falls between them at 8-in-12 and is offset 2 ft. from the north wall of the house. It adds character and scale, and it suggests that the master wing was a later addition by the “farmer.” Now it was time to think about windows. We confined our windows to four types, the most prominent being two-over-one double hungs and four-lite casements. Each of the upper lites matches the Floor-plan drawings: Martha Garstang Hill